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12 Crim. L. & Phil. 1 (2018)

handle is hein.journals/crimlpy12 and id is 1 raw text is: Crim Law and Philos (2018) 12:1-18 CrossMark https://doi.org/10.1007/s 11572-016-9407-4 The Duty to Disregard the Law Michael Huemeri Published online: 13 October 2016 © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016 Abstract In the practice of jury nullification, a jury votes to acquit a defendant in dis- regard of the factual evidence, on the grounds that a conviction would result in injustice, either because the law itself is unjust or because its application in the particular case would be unjust. Though the practice is widely condemned by courts, the arguments against jury nullification are surprisingly weak. I argue that, pursuant to the general ethical duty to avoid causing unjust harms to others, jurors are often morally obligated to disregard the law. Keywords Jury nullification - Juries - Political obligation 1 The Question of Nullification In 1735, John Peter Zenger, then publisher of the New York Weekly Journal, was put on trial for seditious libel as a result of a series of articles the newspaper had published attacking the governor of New York. During the trial, Zenger's attorney freely admitted that Zenger had published the material in question. His defense was that the material was all true, and he offered to present evidence that this was so. The judge, however, prohibited the defense from offering any such evidence. The prosecutor had argued that the factual accuracy of Zenger's allegations was irrelevant to the charge of libel; indeed, it was worse to publish accurate criticisms of public officials than false ones, because accurate criticisms were more likely to undermine public confidence in the government. The judge instructed the jury that the prosecutor was correct as to the law: British law did not recognize truth as a defense to a charge of libel. Therefore, the judge all but ordered the jury to find the ® Michael Huemer owl232@earthlink.net Philosophy Department CB 232, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0232, USA Springer

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